Finding Tranquility
by masqkurade
Summary: (ItachixOC) Jinsune Sarutobi is the great-grand niece of the late Third Hokage. After her mothers mysterious death, she is forced to live in the Sand Village. After staying for about a year and a half, she leaves the Sand and quits being a fighting ninja altogether. Much to her surprise, she runs into a certain Uchiha, and his Shark partner, and is quite useful in assistance.
1. Chapter One

Being insignificant was a trait I always identified with. When I felt significant, it never really lasted very long. Sort of like running down a hill, you are filled with elation. Then when you reach the bottom, the rush disappears, and everthing is back to how you remebered it before. Memories of happiness and significance are shattered on the ground and cut your foot each time you take a step.

Each day, I remember him. Each day, there is a memory of him. Each day, I see something that reminds me of him. His name was Itachi Uchiha. Known for the infamous act of killing the entirety of his own clan. Some call him a "blood thirsty", "loathing", "awful", "murderous" man. However, this was not the Itachi I knew.

Anyone who makes judgments towards my previous statement-be patient. My story is long and detailed. Itachi doesn't come into play right away. This is not all about Itachi, either. It is also my tale. So you do not make judgments upon myself. Only if you listen to what I have to say, will you understand. To really make any conclusions, hear the story from someone who knows and witnessed.

Things are not always what they seem.

My mother was killed, in probably one of the most horrible ways; however that was the risk of being a shinobi. No one really was expecting the murderer to be my father. They don't even know if it was him. As it turned out, 'he'went on a mass killing spree. Just because. No one ever had a theory as to why (I was never told). This event, which followed Sasuke Uchiha's decision to leave, stirred up Lady Tsunade, and I heard conspiricies about my father and Orochimaru. Which seemed extremely far fetched. As if Sasuke's running away and my mothers death were somehow both apart of the same plan. They don't even know if it was my biological dad, or not.

Lady Tsunade, concerned for my safety, sent me away.

"You're leaving Jinsune?"

"Yeah...I hope the Sand Village won't be as horrible and depressing as it seems. I have had enough of that going on, even here in the Leaf. I am sorry, Shikamaru." I explained sincerely, looking into his dark eyes of sympathy.

"Well, I am sorry about all the crap you've been through," he said, "You're a strong person, and if you need any help with training in the Sand, talk to Temari."

"Okay, I'll make sure to remember that. Thank you for everything Shikamaru." I walked up and embraced him. My tears were struggling to restrain themselves. I wouldn't be seeing my lazy, cloud-watching buddy for who knows how long. It tore me apart to think that.

"Be strong. I know you are." Shikamaru smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you..." I bit my lip as my voice cracked, and my eyes shifted towards my feet as he removed his arm, putting it back in his pocket with his usual slouched position.

He was the only person besides Naruto to say good-bye to me.

"Hey! Jinsune! Heard you're leaving us, to do some training!" The energetic ninja exclaimed in excitement for me.

I rocked on my heels, avoiding eye contact with the always smiling blond.

"Yes. I am."

He scratched his headband in confusion. "You don't seem very excited Jinsune. Something wrong?" Of course, he didn't understand. With all the energy and motivation he had, it was hard for him to comprehend my apathy and cynical attitude.

I shook my head, and thought of what I was going to eat before I left, and what I was going to pack. Then I remembered I already had done all of those things. The fear of leaving what I was used to, grew in the pit of my stomach and I felt as if I was going to vomit all of my anxiety.

"No. Thank you for asking."

Naruto pouted. "Well, I think you're lying, but if you don't want to talk about it, I understand. Hug?" I embraced Naruto as well. My throat closed, and I felt my head surge with pain and my lips convulse in melancholy.

"Thank you Naruto. You're a sweet person. Keep smiling okay?"

Naruto held a thumbs up and a big grin. "You betcha! Believe it!" I giggled at his cheesy catchphrase.

I sighed, "Don't you ever change. You are a wonderful human being." I turned my back, and waved good bye to my two remaining real friends, and looked back at the village that was once my home. The trees green, almost all year, and the Great Hokage Faces carved into the mountain. The sereneness and quaint feeling of the Leaf was only going to be tucked in my memory.

I was going to miss them dearly. But life moves on. And they would too, without me.

Kakashi stood at the entrance of the gate, with his typical vacant expression, and his porno book in hand. I sighed, looking up at the sky, making the tears in my eyes seep back into their home.

"You ready to go?" I nodded, and I didn't bother looking back back again. Even with the voices of my friends bidding me farewell. They were to become a memory, too.

We walked side by side, and I would occasionally be in my own world and forget Kakashi was even there with me. He didn't seem to care much that I was leaving. He hadn't even said a word to me. He didn't even try. Ever since he found out the truth about how he was the father of my mothers child, he never treated me the same. I was suddenly a stranger to him, within seconds of this discovery.

The birds were so lovely sounding, and I wandered deep into the shadowed depths of my conscious mind.  
I wondered why I couldn't live the simple life of a small animal. Life would be short, and I would be naive and happy. All I really wanted to be in that moment, was dead. It seemed so peaceful. Oh, how I envied my mother...

The awkwardness between Kakashi and I killed me. What was once walks filled with laughter, was now gone. It was just walks with the pounding of our footsteps on the ground below us, and the occassional scatter of a rock dancing at our toes. The trees whistled with their leaves, and it disturbed me to think I wouldn't be hearing it anymore, as I was going to the Land of Wind, where the ground is naked, and the music of nature was nonexistent.

The first night of travel, we settled at small clearing near a stream Pakkun, Kakashi's dog sniffed out. I sent my Panther, Hyoubara, to assist Pakkun. The katydids sang their usual nighttime melodies to one another, and before it would have annoyed the hell out of me. But in that moment I found it absolutely beautiful.

Kakashi sat opposite of me, not saying a word. My eyes narrowed at the masked ninja , while his eyes were directed towards the flames. The flames hid the emotion in his eyes. All of it. I felt my own emotions slipping from my grasp, like a bar of soap. My anger was screaming to be released, and so it did as it well pleased. Standing up, and slamming down my bag, I screamed,

"DO YOU EVEN CARE!? AREN'T YOU IN THE SLIGHTEST UPSET?! OF COURSE NOT!" Shooting his head up towards my face, in a loss of words, his gaze darkened, and averted his eyes away, and a brief silence of crickets fell over us.

"How dare you. " He whispered. My tears starting to run down my cheeks once again at his voice that was dripping with vexation. "How dare you, accuse me of not caring. You are a FOOL if you do not think that I care. Jinsune, Your mother was all I had left! All I had left to make me smile-that made me happy- and to find out she was pregnant with MY child..." I heard him choke at the last statement, and I began to let the tears flow heavier from my eyes.

Suddenly, Kakashi stood up, and much to my surprise, walked towards me. Becoming nervous as he towered over me, I whimpered "I-I, I am sorry..." I breathed unsteadily, and let out a sob, cupping my head in my hands. Kakashi slowly and gently hugged me. I buried my tear stained face into his vest. As I cursed, and wailed for my mother and the scenario, he only squeezed me tighter.

"I'll protect you with my life. I failed Rima." Kakashi beginning to cry I thought too, but I saw no tears.

"She'd yell at you for saying something as silly as that Kakashi."

"Maybe." He sighed, and pulled away from me, staring into my eyes. "You are leaving the Leaf under my request."

I gasped. "Wh-what?"

"I promised myself to keep you safe. And no matter how far you must go, I will get you there...away from.. him."

"Who is HIM?" I asked.

"A man who clearly wants to make my life more miserable. I wish not to speak of it anymore. Now, you are all I have, all I have left of your mom. I am determined to make sure you are safe. I helped raise you, clothe you, feed you...I did it all, because I loved your mom, and I grew to love you." My eyes went wide, and I hugged him once again, saying,

"Kakashi, thank you for being my dad...I don't want to leave you...or anyone."


	2. Chapter Two

The next few days seemed to drag by, and the topography changed from trees, to shrubs, and finally to sand. Acres, and acres, of the golden dust sparkling before our eyes. The sand got stuck between my toes, and made my feet dry. I kept asking Kakashi for some water, as I began to become dehydrated with each passing hour. It took approximately three days to reach the Sand Village, and we were half a days travel away from our destination. The swirling specs of sand swirled around, and oftentimes irritated my eyes when it decided to fly into them. I began to smell my own body odor, and I scoffed at my scent.

"Haha, travelling gets to you." Kakashi chimed in with a smile behind his mask.

"Obviously. I smell like...I haven't bathed in days...because I haven't."

Kakashi chuckled, and continued to read his Make Out Paradise book. My feet started to drag due to the sand being of a very high resistance rate. I grunted a few times, and Kakashi would just roll his eyes, and shake his head in amusement.

For the rest of the half day, I forced myself to cease thought of what had recently happened to Sasuke, my other childhood friend. Which, didn't work out so well. My mind was not in the happiest of states to begin with. He left to join Orochimaru. What an idiot, I thought. I hated him when he left. I hated how all he was living for was vengeance. What kind of person would want to live a horrible life such as that? Sasuke. The once sweet and kind little boy I used to play with. I remembered Itachi, too. He would occasionally babysit me. I had a crush on him when I was little. He was quiet, and handsome, and not to mention gentle and kind as well. I recall Sasuke informing me of Shisui, Itachi's best friend dying. I gave Itachi a hug. He strangely didn't hug back. I noticed his eyes were more distant. Like he was hiding somehthig. My nine-year old mind had caught on to details quickly. I remember asking him, "Itachi. What is the matter? You are acting so different." The thirteen year old anbu captain looked at me with curiousity.

"Why do you say that, Jinsune?"  
I shrugged my little shoulders. "I don't know. You're more extra quiet than usual. Is everything okay? Mom can help, if you need anything since I know you don't really seem to get a long with your parents."

"I am fine. Thank you for offering. Oh, and Jinsune,"

"Yes?" I asked as I stood up and was about to leave. Suddenly, Itachi lifted his lips upright.

"Keep smiling." I raised an eyebrow in wonder. He said it as if it was going to be the last thing he ever said to me.

I remembered it was the last thing I also said to Naruto.

And it was, for years.

After I discovered the massacre, I was distraught. I would never see 's sweet face, or her husbands infamous scowl. I would never see Sasuke truly happy, ever again. Nor would I see Itachi.

My thoughts lingered to the same night of the massacre. Loud knocks on our door woke me and my mother up.

"Momma, who is it?" Mom yawned, and quickly made herself to our door. Inside the threshold, was none other than Itachi himself. He was covered in blood, and had all of his Anbu gear on.

"Jinsune, go back to your room, now and sleep. Don't come out." My mom demanded. Instead of obeying right away, I asked,

"Itachi, is everything okay? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" I approached him, preparing to hug him, but before I could make any other movement, my mother yelled,

"JINSUNE! ROOM!" I nodded quickly, and made my way into my small bedroom. I closed the door, and put my ear to it to eavesdrop, being the curious child I was.

"Itachi, what happened?"

"You are not to tell anyone-" Itachi was cut off by my mom in mid-sentence.

"I won't, now tell me what the hell happened!" My mom sounded more distressed than I had ever heard her before.  
It was quiet for a few moments, as it seemed Itachi was building up the courage that he had left.

"It-was-it was... an order...war would have broken out. I had no other choice." His breathing was sharp, and his tone was dense.

"For God's sake, WHAT?!" Moms voice rose, and I heard Itachi hush her so she wouldn't frighten any of our neighbors.

"I had to kill my clan..."

It was silent. All that was heard was the thunder and the rain pattering on the roof. Mom was speechless, and the air was thick, as I found it was harder for my little lungs to breathe at his statement. The thunder cracked nearby, hitting an apartment a few doors down from us, vibrating everything in its vicinity. I gasped, and held onto the door knob in fear. It didn't even phase my mother or Itachi.

"You're not joking...Oh my God Itachi, WHY?!" Mother screamed in a whisper.

"It was the Third's order. The clan was planning a retaliation against the entire village. Thousands would have died, had I not followed his order." I could have sworn I heard his voice change with a sob.

"What...Itachi...you need to get out of here... Is Sasuke..?"

I gasped in horror at the thought of my friend lying dead, covered in blood.

"He's alive. Tell no one, I beg of you."

I sighed in relief.

"Not a word.," My mother assured him with a weary voice, "You have my trust."

"Goodbye, Rima. Thank you." And the door was closed shut.

That was the last I had heard from Itachi. He told my mother for reasons I do not know. I assumed it was due to the fact she babysat him when he was younger, and they both occassionally worked together on Anbu missons.

The last I had heard about was an encounter with Itachi and the run-in with Naruto and Sasuke that he had, and his little visit to the Leaf Village after the Chunin Exams. I hadn't thought about him in a long time, and I wondered why I thought of him then, when I was going to some place totally different and new. It didn't really fit the current situation. Sometimes things from the past don't even need a reminder about them. The past just likes to haunt its victims when it wants. The past is a pest.

The only thing I thought of that did fit the situation, was Gaara. Gaara was a disurbed fellow, who obviously needed counseling. I had never seen so much anger and hatred in my life. According to Lee, Gaara had assisted him in going after Sasuke, and he was not evil. I had seen him once, long long, ago when Kakashi was doing a simple mission and took me a long with him to the Sand Village. I remember a little boy being picked on. I felt sorry for him. I regretted not helping him after I left. I could have made a new friend. And someone could have actually cared about him.

The tall walls of the Sand Village loomed before us, and the sun shined directly into my face, causing beads of sweat to trickle down the sides of my cheeks. The guards at the gate seemed to dislike their job, due to the rude looks on their face.

"What business do you have here?" Kakashi handed them some important looking document. I assumed it had my name on it, as they looked at my photo ID, and back at me.

"Alright, go on in."

The three siblings, Temari, Kankuro and Gaara hadn't arrived to greet us yet. Turning to Kakashi, I said, " Please, can we go back...I already hate it here, it's so ugly and lifeless!"

He turned his head, and shook it no.

"I'm...sorry... This is what is best for you." I wanted to slap Kakashi for his ignorance and assumptions.

"How do you know?!" I asked, nearly yelling.

"Just...TRUST ME." He told my firmly. My tears began falling again, and I hugged him one last time.

"I don't know when I'll see you again, you're like a father to me. Kakashi, you too, are all I have left. I love you, you're my hero...thank you..."

Kakashi heaved a sigh. "Like I said, you are precious to me. I love you too. Promise me you'll be good and take care of yourself."

I let go. "What if the life of a ninja is something I am not cut out for?" I asked.

Taken back by my statement, Kakashi replied scratching his head, "Honestly, if that happens. try the medical field. If that doesn't help...it really is okay. It is not for everyone. It is your life. I am merely here to help and guide you."

"But, you'll be gone. You will forget me like everyone else and just move on!"

"Forget you? I have problems forgetting anything." He said. "I'll think of you everyday. You are very dear to me and never think otherwise. No matter where you go, no matter what you become, I will always care. Please be strong, and do what you feel is best for you."

"Thank you..."

"No, thank YOU this is not goodbye." Kakashi said gently.

The three of the former Kazekage's children appeared behind me. Kakashi pointed towards them, and I turned around. Temari, the blonde, greeted me first.

"So, you must be Jinsune, our new tag-a-long." Temari spoke, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Ye-yes..." I answered her.

"We have met before. But not under formal circumstances. I am Temari. This is Kankuro, and this is Gaara."

I nodded, "Pleased to meet you both.." I turned to say one last goodbye to Kakashi.

He was gone. My mouth let a little squeak escape. Kankuro just laughed.

"Hah! You are as timid as a mouse! How'd you even pass the Chunin Exams?" I shrugged.

Temari scoffed at her brother.

"Like you have any place to say anything."

"Shut up Temari!" He spat, frowning in defiance to her comment.

I spaced out a little as they quarreled, staring at Kakashi's footsteps into the sandy desert abyss. But tears did not fall. I felt nothing. I didn't know what to feel.

"UH HELLO? New girl!" Temari snapped me out of my thoughts with her sharp tone. "You hungry?"

"No." I responded curtly.

"Well...I am starving." Temari added, holding her gurgling stomach.

"We can still go somewhere you dumbass." Kankuro rolled his eyes.

Temari stated with an as-a-matter-of-fact type response.

"Well it is rude to eat in front of people who are not eating."

"Yeah, that's THEIR problem." Kankuro nodded his head, referring to me.

"Whatever, let's just go."

The four of us walked down the dusty plain streets. I asked Gaara, "Are they always like this?"

With his usual monotonous tone, Gaara replied, "You have no idea."


	3. Chapter Three

I woke up the next morning, at the clock reading 8:30 am. I bolted up, and quickly put a new set of clothes on. I fixed my hair into a side pony-tail, and re-tied my headband. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror and gawked. Eyeliner was streaked down my face, and I was red from the tears. I took off the eyeliner, and washed my face then re applied the makeup. I got my shuriken bag off the nightstand and placed it in its usual spot. I then walked quickly through my door, and into the hallway. I smelled eggs from the kitchen. I slowly edged myself towards the kitchen, and looked to see Temari making scrambled eggs. She took a bite to sample her cooking, and seemed relatively satisfied.

She looked shocked to see me.

"So, you finally decided to wake up huh?" I shrugged, a little embarassed at how late I was.

"Yeah I was pretty worn out when I came here yesterday. My apologies."

"You slept for at least a good 10 hours. The journey here is pretty long from the Leaf Village." I nodded, and sat down at the round table.

"Baki Sensei is probably going to get you started on your training right away." Temari stated, putting my eggs in front of me.

"Huh? Already?" I asked.

"What, you don't want to be lazing around being inactive. Anyway, he probably needs to know what you need to work on...like your taijutsu." I swallowed my first bite of the eggs.

"T-taijutsu?"

"Right. I studied your movements at the Chunin Exam. You need to rely on your punches and kicks a little more. Your reaction is really slow though too. Which is NOT good." Hearing her criticism hit me hard. Critics such as her seemed to always make my self-esteem lower.

"Thank you for acknowledging that." I said quietly, nibbling on my eggs.

"So, why exactly are you even here to begin with...?" Kankuro sneered, sipping some liquid from his cup. We all sat around the small table quietly in the quaint kitchen. I set my fork down, and finished chewing up my cereal. My cereal felt stale, as it was extremely difficult to swallow. Or it was the mucus in the back of my throat building up pressure at Kankuro's inquiry. Temari grunted.

"Kankuro, we already discussed this!" Kankuro seemed offended by Temari's outburst.

"What? You never know, the story might be different..." Kankuro chuckled slightly.

"Doesn't matter you idiot." Temari rolled her eyes, and put her bowl into the dishwasher. "It's rude."

Kankuro scoffed at his sisters insult. "Hah! Tell Jinsune here about what you said to that middle-aged woman at the store the other day. Now _that_was what you call, 'rude'." I shook my head at the both of them, and rolled my eyes. Gaara did not seem to thrilled either, as he was just staring at the table. A statue, with a penetrating gaze of indifference. Lee was right. Gaara was different. His eyes didn't seem to be filled with hate, nor did is aura give off the vibe of blood lust. I must have spaced out again, because Kankuro's voice of irritance awoke me from my trance.

"Um_ HELLO_? Jinsuna-or whatever your name is..."

"Jinsune." I interrupted, correcting him.

"Yeah, what ever. What exactly happened?"

I was growing agitated myself. I didn't want to answer his question. I shrugged him off, doing as Temari did and put my dishes in the wash. I kept hearing him making snide remarks towards me, but they were distant, like a pestering repeated noise that one becomes accustomed to, after being heard time and again. Just as I was about to leave the vicinity of the kitchen, Kankuro grabbed me by my shirt.

"Hey you little twerp I asked a question!"

Suddenly, a low voice cut Kankuro off from making any further remarks towards me, and prevented any further harm.

"Kankuro...that is not how you treat guests, especially those who do not want to speak their purpose, as it might be private."

Kankuro put his nose up. "Then why does Baki know everything."

Temari crossed her arms, and looked at him as if to say, 'are you that stupid?'

"What?" Kankuro grunted, unsure of what the heck was going on with his sister and what her expression was for. "It's just a question."

"Drop it, Kankuro."

"Fine, fine!"

I sat there, silently. staring at the wall. I didn't know what to say, and I didn't know what to do. I rather not train or practice or anything. I was growing weary of the ninja lifestyle of never knowing if I would die or not. It isn't exactly the best life to live. The unpredictability wore me out.

Gaara leaned against the wall, looking at the floor with his empty cerulean eyes. He was a handsome boy. I thought he should have looked up more so the world could see him.

I remembered the full memory, when I saw his eyes, that were like the tropical sea.

"Kakashi? Where are we going?" It was in the Sand Village. They were having some festival. The smells of all the different foods, and candles went through my nostrils.

"I thought it'd be fun to go to the festival today." My face lit up with happiness.

"Really! Awesome!" I ran to catch up with him. He was wearing his usual black ops uniform. I saw a big line of people on the main street of the Sand Village. There were so many people! I couldn't see a single thing, me being really short at the age.

"Kakashi I can't see a single thing!" He chuckled, and lifted me up on my shoulders. I felt like I was on top of the world. I could see everything. I saw food markets, and girls dancing in kimonos, and the flags made everything look beautiful. I then saw people in a dragon costume that were moving behind the drummers, and the band. My face lit up again, and I laughed and clapped. I heard Kakashi laugh again at my I saw a boy with red hair, and tears on his face with blood-shot eyes. I wanted to go help him, but I got distracted by some gymnast doing flips, and cartwheels.

As I looked at him, I regretted not going to speak to him. I wanted to say sorry. I wasn't sure how much good it would do. He was a pretty closed off person, and from what I had seen of him before, he was not the forgiving type. Temari interuppted my thoughts, saying,

"If you need anything, come to me. Kankuro doesn't know a thing." Kankuro glared.

"Oh yeah? What about the time where-" then, they started to argue and bicker. I sweat dropped, and watched along with Gaara, who had a vacant expression.

I got up, and left the three ninjas premises. I reached in my pocket for the keys Temari handed me earlier, and closed the door behind me. The room was nice enough. The bed had blue bedding with a lighter shade blue on them. The walls of the room were painted a very light pink and green color. The dresser matched the bed frame, and the room was a good size. I was also happy to see I had my own bathroom! I unpacked my clothes from my bag...that somehow magically was able to fit my different clothes and I picked up the photo of my mom and I when I was a little girl. I was sitting on her lap, and she had her arms around me in a warm hug, and her beautiful smile. I had my teddy bear with me. I set the photo on my night-stand, and once again, instantly, the tears hit the floor. I wasn't even aware of it at first. I laid face first on my bed with the pillow in my face. I felt weak, and like a crybaby. Ninja's weren't supposed to show their feelings in front of others in a comrade dying situation. But it also never said that you couldn't while no one was around. I never agreed with the rule.

From that day forward, I decided to never obey it.

I had to get used to my mom not being with me anymore either. Permanently until I went into my next life.

I knew Guy Sensei, Kakashi, and Asuma were deeply affected by her passing. Guy was on her squad when they were younger, and became great friends such as a bro/sis relationship. Kakashi was also another good friend, who she still loved..yet he never knew about it. Asuma and her were cousins in the same family, and they also had a great relationship.

A knock was at my door. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, and wiped my tears away.

"Coming." I mumbled. I made my way to the door to see the blonde female before my eyes. She blinked twice at me.

"Um, are you okay? You look terrible." Gee, thanks, I thought. "Surely Kankuro didn't upset you that much, right?" Not even.

"no-no, I am fine."

Temari shrugged. "Well okay. So let's go train!"

"Uh." I began, "Excuse me?"

"Hard of hearing?" She asked rudely. "TRAIN. It's what ninjas do. I told you this before at breakfast. Remember?"

"Oh, right." I felt not only incredibly ridiculous, but I had no motivation to do any training at all. I was tired, and the shits given were slim to none.

"C'mon, or we don't want Kankuro there before us."

I sighed.

"Yes. Of course."

We walked quietly on the dirt road, until we came to a clearing far off the village streets, near the wall surrounding the civilian life of the Land of Wind. There, we saw Baki.

"Jinsune, I need you to fight Temari before I start training you myself. That okay?"

I was a little shocked, and nervous that he'd give me short notice. I felt my heart rate speed up.

"O-oh, um...okay." I replied with a shrug of fake indifference. Temari got on the other side of the practice field. Kankuro and Gaara backed out of the way behind Temari, and Baki stood next to them. I positioned myself into a fighting stance. My signature was on my tip-toes. Sakura had pointed it out one time and I thought everyone did it. Then, Temari got in her stance. I felt my heart beat rate skyrocket then. _What the hell am I supposed to do?! _I thought, panicking as my skin rose.

"Begin." Baki yelled. Temari made the first move with her fan. I didn't pay any attention to what jutsu she said(which I probably should have). Some wind cut me up like it did TenTen. I grunted in pain. Then I used my handseals. I learned from the books my biological father left behind, as he was from the Land of Water.

"Water Style: Ice Shurkien!" I threw my now ice-glazed shuriken at her at different directions. Shuriken were pretty simple to block, I did not mind that they were easily evasive. We were only doing this to see what I need to work on. Temari ended dodging or somehow blocking them with her huge fan. One had slightly grazed her shoulder, but not enough to make a fuss about. She made another move with her ridiculously large fan that made me tumble and roll backwards which hurt my back pretty bad.

"Ow." I muttered. I made handseals again, and cried, "Ice Style: Icicle Spikes Jutsu!" The Jutsu my fathers book taught me. Ice chunks came out of my palms, and I shot the sharp shards everywhere near Temari, and one chunk made her topple backwards. and the ice got stuck in her skin, resulting in blood sleeping out.I heard her grunt from across the training field. Her fan was dropped about five feet from her.

"Water Style: Water Whip." Water didn't come. If it did, just a couple drops. _WHAT?! _This did not make sense. Why would no water chakra come? I started panicking for a minute, as Temari stood up, and took the wood out of her skin, and picking up her fan. She came at me, and I dodged the first time as the metal part was aimed at my abdomen, then she came back again towards my head, and my reaction was way slow. Then I saw stars, and I fell to the ground. I saw two Temari's standing right in front of me. I was dazed, and my head hurt severely, trembling in agony from the blow. Temari was going to come at me again, but I rolled over and she got a hit on my arm. _Crap Temari, ruthless much? _Then again... shinobi of the Sand were ruthless in battle no matter what. Then I went for her abdomen with my foot and got her square on. She fell back and I stood up quickly as I could. My head hurt even worse and I started having double-vision again. Temari shot back up and landed a punch in my jaw, and I returned her favor, but I didn't hit her straight on like she did. It hit more of her chin. She was right. My reaction, speed and taijutsu...not so good. Then she hit me with another wind thing, and I flew back once again, hitting my head. I wanted to hold it in pain, but I didn't want to look like a total wussy.

"Temari wins." Baki stated. _That was inevitable from the beginning, _I thought.I slowly started to stand up, and regain my posture. My headache was still pretty bad, and I was beginning to feel nauseous. I still had cuts and bruises. I made my way to the other side of the field.

"Well, I already guessed , and I was right. We need to work on your speed, reaction, and taijutsu." Baki said.

"Uh, yeah." I replied sheepishly.

What a long day of training it would be.


	4. Chapter Four

Yeah, I was right. It was a terribly difficult day, of just basic training. I was still recovering from the fight with Temari, and that was hardly even a fight, compared to what I had seen previously. Baki decided to make me do conditioning exercises. Like holding my legs straight up for a minute with five different sets...yeah, I would be hurting for a week or so. At least I wasn't placed under Guy's care...I would be dead from exhaustion and fatigue. I had seen what routines he had put Lee through.

Then he tested my reaction by just at random time throwing plastic shuriken at me, and three out of five times it hit me. Boy, did I feel like a real loser. Even when I was teamed up with Maemi(who by the way was on my team when I graduated from the academy,and was probably the most vain person on the planet), I was doing horrendous. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I saw Kankuro smirking at me, as he saw me crash and burn. I kept my head held high, and tried to ignore his eyes in amusement.

I was breathing heavily. The sun was beginning to set, and my day of training took out all of my energy. I felt dizzy, and my heart pounded in my ears.

"Alright kid, your trainings done for the day. We can all head out to eat. It's on me." I felt myself smile a little bit. Baki was a nice enough guy, but man, was he intimidating. He was around 6'4 or something, with half his face covered. It was either an injury or he liked to be weird like Kakashi. Me, being 5'1, felt like an ant that could be squashed. I think he knew I was a little frightened of him. He never mentioned anything about it.

"Aw yeah!" Kankuro said happily at his Sensei's remark.

"You haven't taken us out like this in awhile sensei. What's the occasion?" Temari asked.

"Well, we have a guest. That's something to be happy about. It's also the polite thing to do, Temari." Baki explained in a matter-of-fact tone, and it reminded me of Kakashi. My stomach turned at the thought of him. He could have been training me. ..Under different circumstances.

"Hmm." Temari thought carefully. I was all sweaty and I had lost my hair tie. I must have looked ludicrous, and laughable. In addition to the disaster that was myself, I had been the victim of the suns wrath. _Hopefully this will tan or something by tomorrow. _

Gaara, Temari, Baki, Kankuro and I headed to one of the restaurants that they usually went to on special occasions. We took our place in a comfortable booth, and Temari sat next to me and the boys were on the other side. Kankuro sat next to Gaara who was next to the wall. I could immediately tell by Kankuro's shifty eyes and elusive countenance that was nervous and uncomfortable. He clenched his fists, and he was tense in the jaw.

Our waiter came, and his name-tag read 'Daisuke' a pretty common name. He handed us our menus, and gave us all water for courtesy. He was pretty attractive. 'He had sandy brown hair and green eyes. I studied him for just a brief second when he was done taking our orders. Temari then nudged me with a grin, as if to say , "You-Just-totally-Checked-That-Hot-Guy-Out". Then I looked at her and shook my head no, which was clearly a fib. She chuckled, and whispered to me,

"I only come here to see him."

Unfortunately, her cat hood brother heard a little of what she said.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing." we both said in unison. Kankuro raised an eyebrow and sighed.

"I will never understand women."

"And maybe that's a good thing." Temari responded to his statement. "That's why you don't have a girlfriend yet. Maybe if you weren't such an inconsiderate person, people would like you more, idiot."

"Says, YOU." Temari's brow furrowed, and looked as if she wanted to reach across the table and smack her brother. She rolled her eyes.

"You're infuriating sometimes." Kankuro shrugged.

It was a weird silence between all of us. So, to break the excruciatingly unpleasant atmosphere, I summoned up some of my own inner confidence (which was lacking), and asked Gaara a question.

"What are you getting to eat? You haven't even touched your menu." The looks from Temari and Kankuro were almost in awe. I felt more sweat build at my roots, as I remembered what he was like at the Chunin Exams. _Who knows, maybe he could snap again...?_ The silence persisted, and the stares only grew deeper. His eyes, that were facing down towards the cover of the menu, finally raised up to mine. I felt a chill go down my spine. His gaze was...different, from before. There was no way to describe it.

I had ordered a small salad. I was hungry, but when I was with new people and new surroundings, I didn't like eating a lot. I felt strange, being a newcomer. I thought everyone would be judging me. Kankuro got ribs, and Gaara got...well nothing.. Temari got a large salad, and Baki got ribs like Kankuro. Men and meat always seemed to go hand-in-hand.

The dinner was delicious...that was, as delicious as a salad could get, I guess. I walked back to the mansion alone as everybody else went off to buy supplies. I did not really care to get anything else new. My equipment was enough to my liking. I sighed in relief as I closed the door behind me to my room, and entered my quaint bathroom. I stripped off my clothes quickly, and took a nice, long, and hot shower. I shampooed twice, to make sure all of the muck and grime were washed into the drain, far away from my scalp. When I stepped out, I was expecting to see my bloodshot eyes. Instead it was fogged up with steam. I took the towel wrapped around me, and rubbed it off. My mothers voice scolding me not to do that, reminded me that it would smear when the fog cleared up. I didn't really care. I told myself that I wasn't tired. By the time I was done with everything, it was around nine o'clock at night. At Konoha, everyone was still up. In the Sand, people were closing up shop. I turned on the TV, but of course, there was nothing interesting.

At 11:30, I was still wide awake. When I was watching the television, I heard only two people walk into their rooms and close the door. I had a feeling Gaara was not one of them..

So, I decided to go for a walk. On my way out of the building, I saw a couple, who looked of importance, judging by the robes they were wearing. They were an older couple. Why were they there? Who were they? Where are they going? What is their story? How many deaths had they witnessed? Have they witnessed any deaths? They caught me staring in wonder at them, and they eyed me with high suspicion, as if I shouldn't be there.

Maybe they were right.

I exited the building, and I saw that not a soul was outside. It was a very eerie feeling. I walked around on the main road, and window shopped at what I could see in the darkened windows. Usually I could only make out the shadows of the objects.

I felt the sand gather up on my feet. I didn't bring my shoes with me. The air was chilly, unlike the day. The wind picked up, and sand flew into my eye. "Ow." I muttered. I didn't like this place at all at night. It was a rather strange, and lonely atmosphere. I turned to go back to the mansion, but something caught my sight.

It was Gaara.

He was sitting down on a rooftop. Hair flowing in the direction of the wind, and his expression was vacant, without any emotion,_ like a blank lined piece of paper, yet to be written on. _I thought. He was looking at the crecsent moon. I saw him do this often during the Chunin Exams, at home in the Leaf Village It sort of creeped me out. Then again, what else is there to do when you can't sleep for pretty much your entire life? He suddenly glanced down, my way, and did not appear to be taken aback at all by my presence. His eyes were filled with sadness, and regret, mixed with loneliness, and uncertainty.

"Jinsune." I heard him.

"Yes?" I asked politely. Trying to act as normal as possible.

"It's dangerous for you to walk around alone at night." I was certainly taken aback, thats for sure. "There are a lot of people here at night you cannot see. Most of them, crazy veteran drunks twice your size that could seize you without struggle." Great. He was basically saying I could get raped and I wasn't strong enough to fight them back. Wonderful.

I hopped up to the roof quietly to not disturb the snoozing civilians below.

"I-I was just leaving to go back." I stuttered.

"Hmn. Is that right." It was more like statement, than a question. I walked towards him, and sat down.

" I...couldn't sleep." I told him, looking down at my feet. He turned to me again.

"I bet if you tried to sleep, you would sleep right away."

"Why do you say that?" I asked in curiosity. Since when did he know my Circadian Rhythm?

"Your eyes... They're bloodshot." He informed me, sounding perturbed.

I was caught on that one. "Oo-Oh. Yeah." I shifted uncomfortably, biting my lip.

"You...you were crying last night." I shot my head up at his statement. How did he know? Was I that loud? I felt my cheeks turn bright red, and my embarrassment made me quiver.

"U-um. Yeah." I admitted. "Sorry. did I, uh, disturb you? I really am sorry if I did..."

"No." I sighed with relief to his response.

"What was wrong?"

"Well...its..complicated." I choked, looking the opposite way. I didn't really want to talk about it, it would only make me remember.

"I'm up all night." He responded. I bit my lip. That meant I pretty much had to. Maybe it would be good to let it out?

"Oh, well...alright. Did Baki tell you guys about what-what happened?"

"Not entirely." Gaara said. I sighed in defeat.

"W-well..my mom was murdered. And, I saw her..dead that is. It was pretty brutal and horrific. I don't particularly like thinking about it. It makes me recall the happy memories I had with her. " I saw a look of a mix of shock and sympathy at the same time, but not even a muscle moved to back up to look in his eyes. "And I ran quickly to Kakashi sensei's house to get him. He got Tsunade and she got the Black Ops to investigate. All they can conclude that her death was not a quick one. There's only one person I know who would even MAYBE attempt. My step dad that is. Its been about seven months since their divorce, but...I don't know I am having a hard time believing he would do that..." I quickly ended. I glanced at him. It looked as if he were thinking of how to respond.

In a film, it would have been the perfect time for a tumble weed to come in with the wind, bouncing up and down off of the barren street.

"I'm sorry." that's all I really wanted to hear too. Not any 'She was a great person!' or 'that's such a terrible thing to happen'. Short and sweet. When people rambled on, that's what made me cry.

"Yeah. It's...well okay. It sucks but...life's gotta go on." I fake laughed, trying to show I was okay, but I was terrible at pretending.

"What was she like?" Shocked, I looked into the serene eyes of his. Gaara Of the Desert was asking me questions... With genuine curiosity.

"I honestly do not want to talk about her right now... I'm sorry..." I said as I rested my chin on my knee. Gaara nodded in understanding.

"You should get some sleep."

I awoke the next morning with the rays of sun spreading across the room that were a circle shape. I yawned and stretched, and did my other morning routines.I wasn't sure what the plan of action was that day. All I knew was that I hurt like crazy from the day before when I trained with my new sensei and went against Temari. I sighed, as I placed my headband around my neck. I never really liked the headband thing. They always got in the way when I was fighting. I always wondered what or who I would be if I never decided to become a ninja. Secretary? Store owner? Actress? Who knows? I was grateful that I did make the ninja decision, because I had made many good friends and learned good lessons. Coming all the way to Suna would basically going through the same thing over again. Which was okay for the friends and lessons thing.

The problem I had, was loss. I would hate to lose anymore friends I had made there. Sasuke for example.  
I walked out of my room and closed the door quietly behind me, so I wouldn't make anyone wake up. I sniffed the air to see if anything was cooking from the kitchen. Nothing. _They must be asleep. _I thought to myself. I walked to the kitchen, and attempted reaching the cereal, but it just fell on me, but I quickly caught it.  
"Phew, close one." I said out-loud. Then I heard a laugh, and I nearly fell over as the cereal poured on the ground and the person laughed more.

"Ughh." I glanced up and saw Kankuro.  
"That was sad. I mean really how stupid-" he laughed more. I glared at him as I picked up the cereal crumbs, one-by-one. Kankuro was absolutely rude. Ruder than even Shikamaru was towards me when we first met. It made me think that he put the box up there on purpose, so he could spite himself over my short height.

"Whatever." I huffed.

"Someone's cranky." He smirked in amusement at my irritation. I rolled my eyes as I put cereal into my bowl, and poured mil to the brim. I put the bowl on the table and sat across from him, avoiding eye contact with the guy in the Halloween costume.

"Okay, let me get one thing straight, kitty-hat-boy. You need to learn how to talk to people..._ESPECIALLY_ girls." I spat angrily.

" You're not worth my time." He scoffed, and walked away from me without another word. I finished my cereal, and I drank my leftover milk, putting it in the dishwasher. I didn't say anything. His words echoed through my head as I walked out of the kitchen and to the elevator.  
'_Trust me you're not that good of a ninja.' Did he really mean that? No. Boys sometimes say things like that when their ego has been shot down. Or maybe..._I walked out into the bright light of the Sand Village as people walked around everywhere. _Maybe he's...right._ I gave a deep sigh as I saw Temari talking to another girl. She waved me over to her.  
"Hey Jinsune. This is Mika, a friend of mine."  
"Hey, it's nice to meet you!" The bubbly girl smiled and shook my hand.  
"Hi. It's nice to meet you also." I smiled slightly. She had shoulder length brown hair and tan skin, and her headband was on her hip. She had a blue tanktop that went to her belly button, and shorts that had a tunic piece like Sakura's between her legs that was a lighter shade of blue with the Sand insignia on the end.  
"I own this weapon shop here. Feel free to look around at all the stuff. We also got some super cute clothes in this morning!" She grinned. _Naruto..._I thought sadly. He acted that happy too. I had also at one time been that happy.

That Jinsune was long gone.

"Mika can help you with weapons. Or a new outfit. She usually knows what's _in_ or _out_." Temari rolled her eyes at her last statement. Then I felt a tug at my arm. Mika was dragging me to the back of the store as Temari watched sort of amused. Clothes were everywhere. _Why need fashion when you're a ninja?_  
"We _HAVE_ to get you some new attire. Not that your outfit is ugly! It's just that like, you're in the Sand Village and like, you need something different..like...OH! _THIS_!" She pulled out a deep purply dress sort of tunic like Temari's, only it was a tank top, and it went to mid knees. I hated it, and shook my head politely 'no'.  
"No? How about something like this?" She had a red shirt, and it had a yellow belt thing that was about below the belly button.  
"Uh..no, but I prefer something lighter. And not something too difficult to move around in." I stated.  
"I know just the thing!" She yelled, like a light-bulb lit in her head. She pulled out a minty colored shirt, with a pink part at the top that had an extra scarf . It was a popular look for the locals at The Sand I noticed.  
"Yeah. I like that." Mika smiled with pride in her accomplishment, and handed it to me.  
"First time customers get their first item free!" She explained.  
"O-oh. Thank you Mika."  
"No problem! We should hang out sometime!"  
"Y-yeah. That'd be good." Mika shuffled through more pants, and tossed me a pair.  
"That's on me too. The colors go good together." I nodded in understanding. Mika headed behind the counter, and got out her shield type gloves with the sand village's insignia at the bottom of the glove. "I could probably put the leaf's insignia above this one. So then your enemies could be more intimidated by you." She shook her fist, and attempted looking mean.  
"No, really you don't have to go through all that-" She grinned again.  
"I want to though." I shrugged.

"Well...thanks again." I rubbed the back of my head. Temari motioned her finger for me to come to her.  
"Jinsune, we should probably get back to training at the field. We need to get you stronger." I nodded.  
"Uh, yeah. Right. Bye Mika. It was good to meet you."  
"Yeah! You too!" She waved back, grin still plastered on her face.  
Temari and I mostly walked in silence as I studied my surroundings again. Everything still looked boring brown, or black. The people did their usual business, and were always on the go. I thought back again on what Kankuro said.  
"Temari," I started. I knew she would at least be somewhat honest with me.  
"Hm?" I was nervous to ask about my strength. If I was truly as bad as her brother implied about being a ninja.  
"Am I... a really bad ninja?" She looked a bit taken aback.  
"No? What made you think that? You just have to work on things like I said. I didn't mean you were _BAD_." I sighed. She assumed it was herself I was referring to.  
"No, it's just that...well Kankuro.." Temari face-palmed.  
"You listened to him? Ughh. I swear...No, he wishes he were as good as you. The only thing he has to defend himself is Crow and his other puppets. You have, at least natural skill." I gave half a smile. I knew she was lying to me.  
Temari nodded in understanding.  
We finally reached the field, and Baki motioned us to walk towards him.  
"Hope you're ready! Today's going to be a tough one." Fan-freaking-tastic.

It was worse than the day before. I was huffing, and breathing harder than the previous day. Kankuro and Gaara had showed up, and practiced at the other field...Kankuro was having difficulties with Crow. Gaara had it easy, of course.  
"You need more confidence, Jinsune. Without that, your battle is down the drain and you might as well surrender to your enemy, because you fail anyway." I was a little shocked at his choice of wording, and attacked him once again with taijutsu, only to be flipped over his head on my butt behind him. I heard Kankuro chuckling, then I quickly tripped Baki over, and I was back on my feet into a stance. Kankuro's laughing ceased.  
"Not bad." Baki stated standing up. I had a bruise on my right cheek, and on my forehead. We had gone through some kunai and weapon training, and I got a cut on my shoulder. Not to mention, I was unbelievably sweaty once again. "I want you to work on your kunai and shuriken techniques on your own time. You still have a long way with your reaction."

My expression fell. He was killing me. I hated the feeling of accomplishment, and then someone shot it down like that.

"Although, I have seen some improvement already with your taijutsu."

"Th-thank you Sensei." I muttered.

" a break for now and come back here in a few hours to practice by yourself." I also hated it when you thanked someone, and they never said "you're welcome". It was almost as if your thanks meant nothing to them.  
"Yes sir."  
They all went their separate ways, and I went to grab some instant ramen at the store. I tried to people watch, to be amused by the rambling words of strangers; but it didn't seem to lift my mood. I ate the food back at the kitchen at the mansion, and thankfully no one was there. I had the place to my self. It was peaceful and nice. I took a really fast shower, and drank loads of water. Since I had to practice again right afterwards. I changed into my nice new clothes to see how they would fit. Turns out Medium always works. I headed out the door, and almost ran into Kankuro. I was about to apologize, but I recieved a glare from him as he kept walking to his room.  
At the field I kept missing the middle target, and continued thinking negative things about myself.  
_Lacks motivation.  
Lacks speed.  
Lacks attack and Taijutsu.  
Lacks confidence.  
Lacks holding in emotion.  
Lacks...being a ninja.  
_ "Confidence!" I heard Kakashi yell at me, in memory. _Kakashi, I can't. _  
I threw a last shuriken at the target, and it missed. That was it.  
"Maybe Kankuro was right... Maybe, I wasn't cut out for this."


	5. Chapter Five

**DISCLAIMER: Thank you so so much for the Faves, annzzzy , iridescent08, kanna-yamamoto.**

**Also, thanks annzzzy and iridescent08 for the follows, as well as shotasayswhat, and Dannib0133.**

**Thank you so so very much, to the YukiTenViani Team for the great critique. **

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"New mission today, finally! I was getting bored just standing around and training." Kankuro stated in content, with his hands behind his head. "I don't know if Miss-Goody-Goody is up for a B-Rank mission." Kankuro said mockingly, awaiting with anticipation for a retaliating response.  
To spite myself, I only rolled my eyes, and them away from his purple marker-ed up face. Temari sighed, and shook her head in frustration. Gaara stood silently and non perplexed, as we awaited for Baki sensei to give instructions on the mission we were just assigned the day before. Baki was never usually late, so everyone was patient with waiting on him. Temari shuffled her feet back in forth in the sand, making it fly around out of boredom. Kankuro had his eyes closed and yawned loudly. I was sitting on a bench, watching the clouds. They reminded me of Shikamaru. If I was still in the Leaf Village, I could have been cloud watching with Shikamaru, wasting the day away doing nothing. Instead I was teamed up with a snobby-blonde with a strange hairdo, a rude puppet master who wore paint on his face with a cat ears hood , and a boy who was a former psychopath containing a demon with a messed up childhood. Oh, and a sheet faced sensei who always had an agitated look on his face with a manly man demeanor.

The sun was looming high above us, and the few clouds were there for our protection from the rays. About a month had passed with training and making new acquaintances with other villagers. The town began to grow on me, despite the unchanging weather and boring landscape. There also wasn't much of a variety of liveliness of the villagers. They all seemed to be sulking. I supposed the weather depressed them, and the area did not have much life besides a few cactus like plants here and there. Otherwise, my angst continued on and it was beginning to show on my newly formed frown-lines. My taijutsu had been improved some, and my jutsu was getting a little more powerful with new chakra control methods taught to me by Temari.

Suddenly, Baki came into our sight. Our new female client approached us, accompanied by a short man standing besides her. He appeared to be nearly seventy years old, judging by his sagging skin and wise wrinkles, and bald head. One could guess he was approximately sixty-five years old. He had a Land of Wind headband on his left arm. War hero, maybe? I wondered. Kankuro nearly fell over in awe at the woman before us. Her hair was long, and was a deep red color, similar to Gaara's, only shinier and all the more radiant. He eye lashes reached her brow, and her lips were painted an innocent pink. Her countenance showed only , and consideration. Her kimono dress reached the ground, decorated in elaborate colors, and captivating flowering designs that were for the wealthy.  
Baki interuppted our facsination of the woman's beauty, coughing to get our attention.

"Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, Jinsune, this is your client. Her name is Mieko. Her home is on the Southern border of the Land of Wind, almost touching the Land of Fire. " Baki paused, looking at all of us to make sure we understood what he had said to that point.

"I am pleased to meet your acquaintance. This here beside me, is my head servant. His name is Isao. He is a Veteran of my village, and is also a trained ninja, such as yourselves. We would like to thank you, for assisting us in our journey." Mieko bowed, and her lips curved, meeting with the dimples on her porcelain face. When she bowed, I got a whiff of her perfume, that was extremely strong with a herbal and floral scent. Kankuro was like a leaf quaking on the end of a branch, about to lose itself. Sweat began to form on his forehead, and he avoided eye contact with Mieko.

"N-no...uh.. .. We should bow to you, heh." Kankuro bowed, and his face flushed red from his brutal attraction to the woman standing before us. When the woman giggled, Kankuro looked away. Temari nudged her brother. I heard her hiss, "Snap out of it., Kankuro." Which was barely audible. Baki, in agreement with Temari's statement glared at his pupil in disapproval at Kankuro's arousal towards the woman. Kankuro scratched away the sweat on his skin, and I heard him gulp in anxiety. I looked to see if Gaara had maintained his composure in front of this person of perfection. His eyes just stood straightforward to his sensei, and his expression held no sign of attraction or desire at all. Not surprising. He is the master of the Straight-Face Arts. Brilliant shinobi, he is. What am I? A weakling with some okay ninjutsu. Otherwise my ass isn't worth shit. I reminded myself sadly. However, in my spare time, I had learned some basic healing jutsus for minor cuts and wounds. Perhaps I will prove beneficial in knowing this?

Baki coughed again, to get our attention, still holding his glare fixed on all of us now. "Alright, you all knew about the mission yesterday. Get her to her home village as body guards, anywhere between thieves and assassins could be after Princess Mieko. It shouldn't be too difficult. Do not forget the scroll I gave to you. Temari has posession over it. The village is about two days away by foot. DO NOT let me down, you hear?" All three of us nodded in understanding. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

"Yes sir." We all said in unison, turning away from Baki who was standing with his arms crossed, and his expression the usual scowl with a portruding frownline up his forehead. Great, with my frownline, I will probably end up looking all sour-patch like him.

Mieko followed us, and we formed around she and the servant to protect them from all sides. As we made our way through the village, Mieko was humming a tune that I was not familiar with, and she was quite good at it. Kankuro, in front of me I saw was having difficulty with his hormones still. He kept walking towards her subconsciously, and caught himself. God, teenage boys and their sex drives. I was surprised I hadn't seen a little boner sticking out of his borderline jumpsuit outfit. I guess guys become good at hiding thing after awhile... I almost laughed. I heard Temari sigh in irritation .She must have seen him too. Mieko observed the art and architecture, up until we reached the gates of the village to exit.

"This place sure could use some color..." I heard our client say under her breath with her head down. You're not the only one to think that. I thought. The guard halted us before we moved further into the desert sea.

"Leaving for a mission?" He asked sharply, expecting papers to be ready for him to be looked over. The man had a burn on his eye, and a cut on his lip. "I need to see your papers." Kankuro looked at Temari, and Temari looked at Kankuro, Gaara, then me to see if we had them.

"Oh! Right." She chuckled nervously, reaching into her back pocket, handing the papers to the man quickly. Security certainly seemed higher in the Sand than the Leaf, where only one guard was visible. At the Sand, there were about five guards. Two at the bottom of the entrance, and two at the top, who seemed to be holding binoculars in their hands.

"Have a safe travel." The man said in a monotonous tone, signing the papers quickly. He had been doing this for a long time, due to the bored and apathetic farewell.

"Thanks." Temari replied, taking our papers back. "Alright, I have some water with me in case you get thirsty. Don't waste it all. Got it?" All of us nodded. "Good. Let's make this quick."

As we made our way into the barren wasteland, I wanted to talk to my fellow new teammate, Gaara. Every time an opportunity arose, I never had the guts to speak to the guy. The opportunity was the entire trip, basically. Inevitably, there was an awkward silence between all of us. Especially for poor Kankuro, nearly dying in front of me of either heat exhaustion or insane amounts of testosterone. Maybe a bit of both. Temari was ahead of all of us, and Gaara was beside me. Isao was on the right of the princess. I was already becoming thirsty. I was not very fond of the environment we were currently in at that time. I was not a fan of it when I had arrived with Kakashi a month earlier.

"S-so. Princess Mieko...What kind of uh... Princess are you?" Kankuro ceased the silence with his question, quivering on his lips, and more sweat being produced at his brow and his forehead. The princess stared at him for a second, registering all of what he was asking. Her expression read, why the heck would he ask such a ridiculous question?

"I suppose just a princess of my little village. You see, we have stayed very traditional over the years. So a monarchy is in power still in our little village. We all share a bit of blood of a clan. The main clan was lost years ago in the Great War. The distant cousins, so we, are all that remain. Very few of us have the Kekkai Genkai the main clan possessed. " Mikeo explained calmly, running her fingers through her flaming hair. Gaara unexpectedly spoke up.  
"What kind of Kekkai Genkai is it?"

Mikeo pondered, pursing her mauve lips, and fluttered her eyelashes, pulling a loose strand of hair out with her long fingers.  
"Oh, I honestly do not know too much about it-" Isao cut off the princess from continuing.

"What the princess means, is that we keep all of this confidential. We are a rather isolated village, who do not like to negotiate, or make big trades with the likes of larger villages. Well, we didn't until Mikeo here demanded a compromise with the Sand Village from her father, the great and honorable Masahiko. It is confidential, and none of your ninjas business, quite frankly." Isao spoke, crudely looking at us in disgust, with the same scowl Baki always had. Only surprisingly, it was worse.

"You sure do have a complex." Kankuro scoffed, hiding a laugh at the man who was about a foot shorter than he was. "It was just a simple question, no need to get all emotional about it. Jeeze."

"Kankuro, respect their customs." I warned him.

"Who asked you?" He asked angrily, turning his body and head towards me, staring at me with his agitated eyes. "You don't know a thing about the Land of Wind, so you have nothing to say." I growled. I had studied enough to at least understand it, and lived there long enough to despise the topography of the nude colored place.

"Kankuro, please listen to me for once."

"Why would I do that? I don't even know you. You don't really know me either." I growled in frustration again towards Kankuro. Before I could object, Gaara said,

"Don't start arguments, Kankuro." I smiled a little, at Gaara's effort to cease his brothers carelessness towards others. "We have a long journey. I am sure the Princess and her servant would rather not hear bickering the entire time. You are always the one starting it."

"Ugh I am done. I'll just stop talking." Kankuro pouted, crossing his arms, which he picked up from his sensei.

Temari chuckled. "Good, I liked it better when it was quiet. " As awkward as it was when the air was hushed, I had to agree with Temari. Fighting with Kankuro for two days to our location and two days back, would definitely not make for an effective or good report.

Thank you all, please comment and review!

masqkurade


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